Kate McFarland (and Traveller Heron)
@carfreebirdnoticer.bsky.social
Bird enthusiast. Active transportation enthusiast. Philosophy PhD. Childless heron lady. Virtual assistant who also sometimes writes things. https://u.osu.edu/mcfarland.309/
I just figured out how to backdate posts in Substack. Now I can make it look like I was blogging for longer, like God when He created the Heavens and Earth in a six day rush job, but threw in some fossils, distant starlight, etc, to make it look like He'd been hard at work for billions of years.
Hooded crow with and without nictitating membrane activated 👀 🐦
This summer I have overheard *so* many conversations about dogs but only one about #oystercatchers, which was just something like "They're noisy." Well, so are (some) people. And (some) dogs. And (most) people talking about dogs. Why aren't more people excited by these feathered friends... 🤔 🪶
I enjoy it when I happen to capture #birds in fun poses even if they get a bit out of focus... 🪶 (Dunoon 🏴)
This classic clip from the Onion News Network is worth revisiting in light of... 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q_i...
U.S. Shocked Andorra Not In Africa
YouTube video by The Onion
youtube.com
However, just as fast-moving electric vehicles still produce tire noise, renewable-powered data centers will still be responsible for the loud hum of cooling units – the main contributor to data center noise pollution. (8)
Sensory Pollution and Functional Fragmentation: Sounding the Alarm on Noise
I have a confession: I grimace whenever I see images of wildlife crossings over multi-lane motorways. The structure enables animals to avoid a deadly physical b
buff.ly
My latest for Rewilding Earth - on the idea that roads and industrial development create *functional* fragmentation (e.g. due to noise pollution) beyond the obvious physical fragmentation.
Rewilding Institute@rewilding.org · 2d agoI grimace whenever I see images of #wildlife crossings over multi-lane motorways. The structure enables animals to avoid a deadly physical barrier, and that is progress. Nonetheless, I cannot help but think about the additional ecological damage caused by such volumes of #traffic. (1)
Restful turnstones 🪶 (Dunoon 🏴)
"I liked seeing your #heron. I snuck a photo to send to my daughter." Aw, my Heron likes being seen too.
I could never get bored watching a fledgling #oystercatcher follow his/her parent over the rocky shoreline, learning the ropes of being an oystercatcher. I've never had the least bit of maternal instinct myself, but maybe I would've if I'd been born as a shorebird, who knows 🪶
“I find that in contemplating the natural world my pleasure is greater if there are not too many others contemplating it with me, at the same time.” - Edward Abbey #Environment #Wilderness #Nature #Quotes
"Around the World for a 10 Miles' Radius." A refreshing perspective (and source of a couple of my recent Bluesky posts) from @carfreebirdnoticer.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/carfreeb... #Nature #Wilderness #Walking
Around the World for a 10 Miles' Radius
Life at the human scale and human pace
open.substack.com
"There is a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles' radius and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you." - Thoreau The life I crave (2022 post) carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/around-the...
Around the World for a 10 Miles' Radius
Life at the human scale and human pace
carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com
"When I see images of wildlife crossings over multi-lane motorways, I cannot help but think about the additional ecological damage caused by such volumes of traffic - and, yes, a pun is intended, for I am thinking about NOISE. ..." My latest for @rewilding.org - rewilding.org/sensory-poll...
Sensory Pollution and Functional Fragmentation: Sounding the Alarm on Noise
I have a confession: I grimace whenever I see images of wildlife crossings over multi-lane motorways. The structure enables animals to avoid a deadly physical b
rewilding.org
Despite the clickbait-ish title, this is a serious article based on the author's critical assessments of conservation metrics recently published in Science Advances, PNAS & Proceedings B. Not just a feel-good piece but a worthwhile read for anyone interested in metrics.
Rewilding Institute@rewilding.org · last wk.Global conservation is big business; all the more reason to make sure the right problems are being addressed and that facts do not take a backseat to emotions. Effective #conservation depends not on abstract global thresholds and single-value percentages...(1)
The Perseid peak is being literally eclipsed by another astronomical event this year, but it should be a good year for it, coinciding with the New Moon. Enjoy the stars and meteors before the skies reveal nothing but satellite mega-constellations and space mirrors ✨☄️🌚 earthsky.org/astronomy-es...
Perseid meteor shower 2026: All you need to know
earthsky.org
Can we have a little herring gull love here? 🪶 I just overheard a conversation about how the gulls are "bad" right now 😔
The hooked claws also make him kind of alarmingly good at climbing. Sometimes helped by the wing magnets.
This is your friendly reminder that we are living on borrowed time. (Also your friendly reminder that the situation is actually worse than this, since Earth Overshoot Day only accounts for the demands of humans, not the needs of Earth's other millions of species. That's all. Enjoy your Thursday.)
European Environment Agency@eea.europa.eu · 7d agoToday is Earth Overshoot Day 🌍, a date that changes each year and which marks the point when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services exceeds what the Earth’s ecosystems can regenerate in that year. More info👇
Making a new friend at the local community center
I pitched a "birds and philosophy" column to a local Audubon chapter newsletter, mainly as a way to challenge and expand myself and to have deadlines. They agreed to the idea; now I have to create content... I'm currently drafting a potential first instalment on meaning and reference 🐦
"Zebra finches are not forming political opinions about string colour. But the underlying mechanism is strikingly similar: strong preferences can act as filters, buffering individuals against social influence." theconversation.com/strong-opini...
Strong opinions matter: Why some birds refuse to follow the flock
Researchers observed male zebra finches to see if they would follow the flock when building a nest, or stick to their own preferences. It may help us think about conformity in our own species, too.
theconversation.com
"Researchers and architects point out that bird-safe glass represents a negligible increase in construction costs for typical buildings, and solutions involve using the same manufacturing techniques as popular privacy glass and heat-reduction coatings." theconversation.com/bird-safe-gl...
Bird-safe glass must become the norm to prevent collisions with buildings
In Canada, tens of millions of birds are killed annually by crashing into glass on buildings.
theconversation.com
In honour of Food Festival weekend, Oystercatcher demonstrates a priced delicacy: mussel with seaweed garnish 🪶
WTF how am I just now finding out that so many value theorists have written about happy egrets.
Villa Sora, stretching 150m along the seafront was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius 🌋 in 79AD On its walls paintings of Herons balanced upon the arms of a candelabra. Each shining Heron-light into the room. 🕯️🏺 #birds #history #HeronArt www.finestresullarte.info/en/archaeolo...
I've called birds an antidote to loneliness, which was apt in Covid times, but nowadays it's more often closer to "birds are distractions from all the people around." Yeah, reckon I'll step aside and let that loud group walk ahead as I examine a crow like a crow examines a barnacle encrusted rock 🪶
